Recent Posts

Post by arlsdimples on Sept 8, 2012 14:40:37 GMT -5

Picture request Rebecca's settee Caroline's parlor. Since I am considering purchasing the settee I was wondering if anyone here actually has both of these pieces and any pictures of them together. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone can help.

Post by arlsdimples on Aug 7, 2011 15:05:40 GMT -5

I purchased this for my daughter when we moved. She had a wooden non AG trunk, but the place we were moved to has limited closet storage so I was looking for something that could go in her room without being distracting and remain functional. After seeing this in the store I knew this is what I wanted to get.

Now I would like to preface this by saying we were replacing ALL of her bedroom furniture. She was 10 and it was time for pieces that could grow with her and to let go of the little tikes and little girly stuff. The reason I say this is because had I not been looking at endless stores of bedroom furniture I may not have considered it.

I consider this to be a piece that if at some point a child decides to put their dolls into storage they can still use with plenty of practicality.

It is a very solid wooden piece. The measurements are about 27 1/2" H x 25" W x 14"D. There is a higher rounded piece on the back with a star on it. This is the only piece that needs to be attached. It arrives in a large box well packed. There are two handle slots on the sides which make it easier to lift and carry when moving around.

There are two doors if front with metal star handles. Two on one door and one on the other. There are no sharp edges to these they are securely in the doors and look nice.

Inside there are two racks for hanging clothes on one side and two places for storage bins on the other. The rack on top has more space underneath for longer items and the rack on the bottom works great for shirts, jackets and shorter items.

One door has a ribbon/cushion bulletin board for cards and stickers and the other has a shoe rack. Both of these are removable. The shoe rack hangs on a metal peg and the board has holes with slots in the back that hook into two screws or metal pegs in the middle of the door.

The shoe rack has eight slots with ribbon trim. These can hold two pare of regular doll shoes or sneakers or three of thinner shoes or sandals. It is made of a thick canvas and inside the backing of the canvas seems to be a thick cardboard that folds. The ribbon board has the same canvas material over a nice cushion with soft ribbons criss crossing to hold things in place. This board is fairly thick.

The two "drawers" as the AG site calls them are made of canvas and are collapsible. They have a thinner cardboard inside the canvas to make it sturdy and an insert to put on the bottom. These hold a generous amount of accessories for storage. I'm including a picture here showing everything that was inside. If you go to my slide show you can see more pictures.

There is still plenty of room inside in front of the clothes racks, as the site says for two dolls or pretty much any items you need to put in.

The piece sells for $325 and the shipping is more than the standard rate because of the weight and size of the box. As I stated earlier if you are looking for a piece of furniture that does not stand out as a doll item this is great. I coordinates with many different styles of bedroom furniture. If all you are looking for is doll storage and do not need or want a piece of furniture the price may be steep.

I rate this piece an A+ because it suited everything I was looking for and is excellent quality when comparing to bedroom furniture we looked at.

Here is a link to my slide show.

It worked great for DD for years for all of her AG stuff. It is a quite nice piece of furniture as well. Much nicer than other cheap furniture you can buy at places like Target.

DD is now 14 1/2 and moved bedrooms. She only kept to AG's in her room to display. The cabinet is now a nightstand and she keeps all of her nail polishes, hair things and various other odds and ends in there. It honestly is one of the post practical AG things I every purchased. I didn't look at it as an "AG" product when purchasing. I looked at it as a furniture purchase. It will either grow and go with DD1 or it will become her baby sisters. DD's current dresser is only a few months old, cost half the price and is already having major issues. This thing is almost 5 years old and as good as new.

Post by arlsdimples on Mar 20, 2011 13:15:04 GMT -5

This was DD's first table many years ago when it first came out. It has been used in many ways over the years as a table inside the cabana, for picnics, a regular table for food in a cafe, crafts and as a coffee table in a living room setting. I had thought that this piece was going to be given to DD's BFF's little sister to borrow. However she decided when push came to shove that she wanted to keep it to display. I don't think you will be disappointed.

I am also curious if anyone ever painted it how it turned out. DD put sticker all over hers when she was younger. I got them off but there are a few little marks left from them. I thought once of painting it but really just don't have the time anymore.

Post by arlsdimples on Jan 22, 2011 22:48:08 GMT -5

I have this and really like it! it gives Molly's room such personality and feminity.

I, however, was afraid to peel off the protective seal on the mirror, since I did not want to ruin it and wasn't sure if it did come off. Does it really come off?

I do think that if it had a "real" mirror, there would be a lot of breakage with it and would not meet safety codes for childrens toys.

Yes the protective seal does come off. Now mine is only mine and was never played with by DD so I can not attest to the how it keeps up with child play. However the mirror has been fine for at least 2 1/2 years now with just my "playing".

I love this piece. It reminds me of something I remember at an aunts and my grandmothers when I was growing up. It is very well made and does not take up much room at all. I actually have a Tinkerbell doll sitting at it right now.

Post by arlsdimples on Sept 24, 2010 10:49:34 GMT -5

I just received this set today and I have to say that I absolutely love it. I have looked at it in the store off and on since it was released but not as closely as I would have liked to. I have always liked it which is funny to me because I view laundry as an unending nightmare.

I think the pieces are actually nicely made and sturdy. I do as a collector wish the drying rack was wood, but believe it would not hold up as well for the target age group. I could definitely see my own daughter breaking it when she was 8 or 9. It would have been neat to have the ironing board in metal also. We have DH's grandmothers ironing board from the time period. The thing is a monster and very heavy. I do wish the ironing board folded up but as I don't fold my own (too awkward and heavy) I guess I am fine leaving this out as well. It still looks very nice and is sturdy.

The box of soap is......a box. The basket is nice but as others have mentioned you could probably get something similar at a craft store. I like the towels for little extras and am actually impressed with the apron. I love the buttons and little pocket. I see it more on Ruthie than Kit though. The iron would be cuter with a cord, but it is still cute. It seems to be made of both plastic and metal.

Now as for the washer I have to disagree with most people on this. It is NOT all plastic! It looks like it is but it's not. The base, legs and pole going up the side are absolutely metal. The tub, agitator and wringer, plus a few other little details are plastic. If you don't believe me take a magnet to it. I don't believe I have ever seen a magnet stick to plastic. It does appear to be plastic, but those parts give the piece weight are cooler to the touch and I did the magnet test on them. I love that the agitator moves and the wringer works.

Overall I think this is a very cute set and very unique. It will be interesting to see what happens to it on the secondary market once it is gone for good. I do have to say that I am very happy I was able to get it on sale.

Post by arlsdimples on Nov 12, 2009 13:50:51 GMT -5

I am hoping to get this from my PS when I hear back from her. I put off buying it when I was in NY a couple of weeks ago and now am regretting it. I think it is actually one of the nicest detailed pieces from Chrissa's wardrobe. The colors are stunning and the goggles are TDF. They are actually my favorite part and the reason I really want this piece so much. I just wanted to add something about the towel since no one who has reviewed yet seems to be aware of it. I have two nieces who swam in high school and in college. The towel IS acurate for swimmers. They have smaller more absorbant towels which they use when in competition. When I see them over the holidays if I remember I'll ask for more details and post it. Hopefully by then I will have my own set in hand.

Post by arlsdimples on Oct 28, 2009 12:32:10 GMT -5

I wasn't going to get it because I had no interest. However when I saw it in person I really liked it. It has MANY little pieces which can be used for various scenes or play. The table itself can be used in many other ways as well. The table is very nicely constructed and sturdy. The sewing machine is rather cute. I think it's a nice piece. Even though it is not inexpensive you do get a lot for your money.

Post by arlsdimples on Oct 28, 2009 10:27:40 GMT -5

Original Tepee

I use it only as a display piece around Thanksgiving. It does take up a bit of space. It takes up a similar amount of space as Felicity's carriage or the sleigh with the horse. It looks very nice set up. It is not to scale or her to use to live in. I do not have Kaya yet, I've used other dolls with it. They can sit inside, but I'm not sure about standing. I remember reading somewhere that the children would build smaller versions of the Tepee's as a way of practicing making them or putting them up. This is about the scale it would be.

I'll look and see if I have any pictures, I'm not sure if they will help or not.

Post by arlsdimples on Oct 14, 2009 16:54:33 GMT -5

I have Kit's trunk and I love it. The feel of it is extremely similar to the old steamer trunks my mother has in her basement. These may be made of wood but they certainly do not feel like it in the sense of what I consider a wooden trunk. The wooden trunks always reminded me of the wooden linen trunk my mother kept at the end of her bed. Samantha and Kits trunks reminded me of the old steamer trunks she inherited that are in her basement. They (the antiques and Sam's and Kit's) are both very sturdy and heavy. I honestly never expected them to be made of wood. For all I know the outsides are a thinner wood covered in what is supposed to be leather (faux leather) or a fabric. The inside drawers are also like the drawers inside of the antique trunks in the black hole (as my father calls it) in my parents house. Once again, I'm not an expert nor have I examined these in finite detail but I always found the representation to be accurate.

I should note, however, that my Kit's trunk has the lid attached that lifts up as opposed to coming off completely. These changes obviously occurred because of non adult collectors getting smaller fingers crunched when the lids fell down from not being propped up correctly. DD has Josefina's trunk in which the lid comes off instead of lifting. I honestly like this design better because it is easier to get in and out of. But that's just a personal opinion.

Post by arlsdimples on Apr 8, 2009 18:36:02 GMT -5

Let me start by saying I was very uncertain when I picked this up in AGPNY last week. However part of my uncertainty was that I intended on getting historical items, but this was staring my in the face.

The table alone is a very lovely piece. Actually when I pulled it out of the box I immediately felt relief and a tiny squee. It is wood and seems very well made. The shade of blue is nice. The drawer has lots of storage space in it. It's a very nice versatile piece of furniture.

There are MANY different little pieces!

There is a green speckled plastic bowl. It's pretty....it's a plastic bowl. I guess it's meant to look like a piece of Chrissa's dad's pottery. There are three rolls of yarn. A pinkish red, purple, and brown. They have Soft Yarn written on the label.

There is a pink pokadot pin cushion with a little green button in the center. This is very cute.....the only thing that bothers me is the big made in China for American Girl label on it. The label is bigger than the pin cushion.

Next is a brown caddy for the spools of thread and all the other stuff to go inside. It's cute and looks nice on the table.

Pink handled scissors.....plastic but very cute.

Two turquoise knitting needles.....also plastic, but I wouldn't expect anything different as with the scissors.

Two small pencils. One green on the outside one pinkish. Both of these can write.

A Designer sketchbook. Blank pages on the inside.

Five spools of thread in pink, coral, green, turquoise, and purple. The color on these is either painted or a colored tape. The thing which I found interesting for some reason is every piece was wrapped in individual plastic, including each thread spool.

There is a measuring tape. It is very small and made out of a nice yellow ribbon with the writing on one side. It comes with a soft plastic......uhm......"thing"....which helps keep it folded up. It's a bugger to put back in but it does go. So much nicer than paper would have been.

The Sewing machine. I was a little blah about it to be honest at the store. I think it was my mood. It looks like a modern sewing machine, except there is no peddle on the floor. So when I opened it I noticed it needed batteries. I put them in as I was talking to DH. I turned the on switch on the bottom and tried pushing various things because apparently I can not read the on off button on the side. I pushed the button finally and went OOOHHH. A light comes on underneath, it makes a kind of sewing sound and the foot (I have not sewed in a long time so forgive me if I'm not using the correct term) moves up and down. I believe the foot is metal but don't quote me on it. The dial on the front also turns and makes a clicking sound as you turn it. Also something curious, where the spool goes on the top of the machine.....the pole can be pushed down. It doesn't do anything but you can push it.

Over all considering my weariness and second guessing myself I am very happy with this piece right now. It is very cute and the table alone made me happy.

One thing that I have to say makes me question things though. AG has been making all of this molded together food. Most of which didn't bother me until the fateful Molly lunch incident. Supposedly they did this to prevent choking hazards. However the pieces to this set are much smaller than any of the food I've seen would be. Especially the thread spools they are very tiny. I'll have to take a comparison picture at some point.

Well that's all for now here is a picture and an album of the rest of the pictures I took for you to gaze over.